The Other Brother
by E. F. Brighty
Summary: A continuation of the story 'In the Hanging Tree', what happened to the queen before Munk found her and why did she take them? All is answered. Song-fic, rated for bad things in the first part.


**A continuation of 'In the Hanging Tree', I thought it best for those who want to know how the heck Shivani ended up there in the first place. I think it also explains a lot more than the first story. BTW I change to first person near the end, it's Shivani's POV.**

**DISCLAIMER:**** Again I claim nothing, Cats belongs to its rightful owners and the song belongs to Kelly Clarkson.**

**The Other Brother**

1692

The year that all magical cats feared would come. When the day came that all magically abled queens and toms were declared a threat to feline safety, there was nothing short of a massacre. All over England cats were brought before their tribe elders and made to confess to practicing dark magic – and there were many cruel, dark ways of making them confess, that should never be spoken of again. The mystical felines were not stupid, most went into hiding, others went abroad to meet their fates in distant lands. The unlucky ones were mostly adults and the elderly, brought before the entire tribe who accused them of being evil, black magic practitioners. Those they had once considered friends, now had turned against them in their own fear and insecurity.

In the late May of 1693 she had been brought before the gathered tribe. The youngest of the tribe had found her, hovering twigs and cones in the air and making them zoom around her head. She stood in the forest clearing at the bottom of the large tree stump, staring up at the old cat who would decide her fate, wincing as the two strong toms either side of her tightened their grip.

"Shivani Lostro, daughter of the so far missing Maryanne Lostro." He began, sending a hush throughout the entire tribe. "You have been accused of dark magic, by the young Arabelle." He motioned to the pure white queen, "Do you deny this?" the queen was silent, she didn't want to get in any more trouble. She glanced over to Arabelle and her friends, suddenly one of them began howling.

"Argh! It burns!" she yowled in terror and pain, the cats turned to her. "She burns me; I can feel it on my fur! She's trying to kill us all!"

"Who is it that burns you Contortia?" the old tom asked moving towards the rusty queen, brown eyes alight with fear.

"Shivani!" she screamed pointing at the queen. Suddenly the others around her began yelling in pain, scratching at their arms, panting and writhing like snakes where they sat. The young queen looked at them all, wandering how this had happened, before her eyes were covered by something – but she could still hear the kitten's screams.

"This is evidence enough that you are practicing dark magic amongst our tribe." The leader called out over the screaming kittens. "You are sentenced to the old oak tree, where you shall be hanged by your neck until deemed dead. May Everlasting Cat have mercy on your soul." He spat bitterly, she was forced away by the toms. The blindfold was removed and she could see the cats around her throwing stones at her, chanting and laughing. The kittens still writhed in anguish, looking at Shivani with malicious smiles on their faces.

She was dragged away from the clearing, through the twisting turns of forest and towards an old tree – where the dead still dangled as a remembrance and a warning. She was forced to the ground to wait for the cats to gather around to watch the kitten, the first in the whole of England, to be hanged. Shivani looked up at the tree to see the covered face of the tribe protector stood at the bottom of a long ladder, waiting for her. She choked back tears as her paws were tied behind her back. The protector lifted her and carried her up the ladder and placed her on the rung as her tied a thick necklace of brown rope around her neck, she looked up at him in fear and he returned her look with regret.

"Do you have any last words?" the old leader asked, she turned to look out across the tribe, looking for one in particular. At the back she spotted him. The tall, lanky tom that was her brother, her only family. His coat was dirty and his once yellow mane was caked with mud and grime, his face looked up at hers tears welled up in his eyes as he realised there was nothing he could do to stop them. She looked back at the cat stood in front of her, the tribe leader nodded to him and he pushed her over.

The chanting cats fell silent as they realised what they had done, most felt remorse, others pity for the family, the kittens that had sent the queen to her death stood still as they watched her swing back and forth.

The group dispersed and soon all that was left was the young tom. He walked forwards, tipping over several roots as he went. He gazed up as the wind blew gently over the tree and swung his little sister around to face him, her pale grey eyes stared at him and he let loose his tears. He ran away, never looking back in case those eyes were still staring at him.

* * *

It had been years since she had last seen him, seen his smile, heard his laugh, played with him. She stared up at the old tree thinking of him, reminiscing the day he ran away on her, the day she was declared to wander the earth forever alone. She had searched for him everywhere; she could only search so far however. Her mother had always told her never to cross the roads. She was confined to the old forest and watched as the humans moved in, lived in harmony with and then destroyed the forest she had once loved and put in its place an old yard that they filled with rubbish and unwanted objects. She wandered through the new land, picking up objects and trying to figure out what they did and how they worked. In the time she had lived there she had seen hundreds of generations of cats coming and going from this junkyard. Kittens who had rolled in the junk, not realising she was playing alongside them, she watched them mature and become adults who either went to start a tribe of their own or stayed and raised a family closer to their own. She too then watched these kittens grow, and watched their parents grow old and tired. She watched the cycle of kitten to elder and wished to be able to live like them, to be able to roll in the junk and grow up and have a family.

But that could never happen.

She was destined to live alone forever, to wander the junkyard forever and to only watch and never experience, forever. She sat in the tree swinging her legs over the branch and thinking of the day she was left alone. How her brother had come to bid her goodbye, if only he had said it instead of running away, then she would have been happier knowing he still loved her. But now she was unsure.

_Hear me  
Hear me_

You gotta be out there  
You gotta be somewhere  
Wherever you are  
I'm waiting  
'Cause there are these nights when  
I sing myself to sleep  
And I'm hopin' my dreams  
Bring you close to me  
Are you listening?

Hear me  
I'm cryin' out  
I'm ready now  
Turn my world upside down  
Find me  
I'm lost inside the crowd  
It's getting loud  
I need you to see  
I'm screaming for you to please  
Hear me  
Can you hear me?

An outline of black streaked through a path in front of her, she looked up to see a brown tail zip into the bushes. She tilted her head to the side and looked at the bush. Suddenly several kittens jumped out and tackled a little black and white tuxedoed kitten who she had not seen walking along the path. She smiled as she saw the young tom giggling at their playful habits. The queen jumped down from the branch and walked over to watch their antics.

"Okay that's enough you guys!" called a grey tabby tom; the others groaned and frowned at the obviously older tom. "Jenny will be getting worried; you know we're meant to be home before sunset."

"Munkus is right," a black and white patched tom agreed, helping the tuxedoed tom to his feet. "If she catches us out here after dark, she'll have out necks!"

"Oh, I wanna keep my neck, it's holding my head on!" the tux cried out, holding onto his neck. The queen felt her own neck; there was a slight bump in the side, showing it wasn't quite attached to her spine. The tom kittens began to walk away, she sighed wishing they would stay. One pricked up his ears and turned to look back.

"Tugger, what are you doing?" the grey tom asked.

"I thought I heard something," he muttered mostly to himself. He was dragged away by the grey tom into the dimming light of the sun. The queen's eyes widened, the tom was the exact image of her brother, right down to the sandy mane.

"You're getting tired that's why," the tom told him. "You, my dear brother, need to stop using your imagination and go to bed."

"Whatever," he said grudgingly, taking a look back towards the forest and, without knowing he was doing so, locked eyes with Shivani. They turned and ran off into the junk. Shivani stood there staring after them, wondering if the Everlasting Cat had made for this to happen. All these years alone, had she finally heard her pleads and given her brother back?

_I used to be scared of  
Letting someone in  
But it gets so lonely  
Being on my own  
No one to talk to  
And no one to hold me  
I'm not always strong  
Oh, I need you here  
Are you listening?_

Hear me  
I'm cryin' out  
I'm ready now  
Turn my world upside down  
Find me  
I'm lost inside the crowd  
It's getting loud  
I need you to see  
I'm screaming for you to please  
Hear me

After that day she was interested in no one else, no amount of kittens rolling in the junk piles, or cats growing up and having their own family could deter her from this fascinating tom, the one who was surely sent by the Everlasting Cat to give her the goodbye she had wished for. She followed him through each day and watched him sleep at night; some could have said she had become obsessed with the tom. She learnt everything about him. His name was Rum Tum Tugger, he loved to play with his brother, though he didn't like it when he spoiled his fun, his mother had gone missing when he was young and how he secretly wished for a sister; 'something different than a brother' he had said when his father's new mate had fell pregnant, so she figured he wanted a sister. His sister had been stillborn, and I had been beside him as he mourned for the sibling he wanted but could never have. Years passed and she watched him grow, she wondered if her own brother had grown up like the Tugger, he worked out with his brother to beat him at wrestling was one of his favourite things, other than flirting with the queens of the tribe, which Shivani hating watching. He was so full of himself in the daylight, but he was quiet and subdued in the hours of twilight, thinking about anything and everything, Shivani would sit beside him without him realising.

He was older now and she still wanted to hear him say goodbye to her, as she knew the Everlasting Cat wanted him to. But every time he locked eyes with her, he never said it. She was starting to get annoyed and was beginning to use the fact he couldn't see her to throw things at him so he would look at her, but he still never said anything – other than 'ouch' that is.__

I'm restless and wild  
I fall, but I try  
I need someone to understand  
Can you hear me?  
I'm lost in my thoughts  
And baby I've fought  
For all that I've got  
Can you hear me?

She stood on top of the old oak tree, right at the top were the branches nearly touched the sky and the green of the leaves shone in the glowing amber of the sunset. Looking up at the clouds she pleaded with the Everlasting Cat to let her have a last goodbye. She cried how long she had waited, 317 years waiting for her brother to tell her that he would love her forever and never let her be alone, waiting for him to lay her to sleep in his arms, and in the morning wake her and take her away to play and laugh. Have him to hold her and tell her he would never leave and that they would be together until their mother found them and brought them safely home across the dangerous roads. She pleaded with the sky as the sun sank under the trees.

_Hear me  
I'm cryin' out  
I'm ready now  
Turn my world upside down  
Find me  
I'm lost inside the crowd  
It's getting loud  
I need you to see  
I'm screaming for you to please  
Hear me_

A bright flash of light appeared and a voice whispered in her ear. "I shall let you find him Shivani, return to your tree how you were the night they cut you down and return there every night. This I give to your life alone, so you may not be the lost child you are anymore." She fell out of the tree and hit the ground with a thump, she looked around and saw only darkness, and she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

* * *

Waking up to cats staring down at me was scary enough, but finding they could see me just as well as I could see them was slightly freaky. I was after all dead.

"Don't worry dear, we found you in the woods by an old tree. We're going to make sure you get better." An old ginger striped queen smiled down at me; I nodded and looked at the grey tom, who I knew to be Tugger's brother.

"I'm Munkustrap, the protector of the Jellicle Tribe." He smiled at her, I gave a small grin back already knowing this, my eyes flicked to the tom beside him, recognizing him at once. "This is my brother Tugger."

"Nice to meet you…?" he extended a paw to me, not knowing my name, when I however knew all about him.

"Shivani." I said quietly, touching his paw slightly. He let go quite quickly and stared at me as if I was dangerous.

"You're very cold Shivani," he said, my eyes widened in fear, realizing that even though I looked alive I was still dead in some way. I looked at Munkustrap.

"She has been outside Tugger, it's freezing out there!" he hissed at Tugger. The ginger queen took him outside, and Munk leant in towards me, "Don't worry, he's just a bit slow in manners." I stared after him wishing that the old queen wouldn't take him away. The next day the queen let me go I however only wanted to do one thing and that was find Tugger, but unfortunatly the young kittens had other ideas. I don't know what ideas came into my head, but all I wanted to do was get Tugger to myself, so I lead them away to the old oak making sure Tugger couldn't see what I was doing. Now I would have friends to play with until he said goodbye.

_Hear me  
I'm cryin' out  
I'm ready now  
Turn my world upside down  
Find me  
I'm lost inside the crowd  
It's getting loud  
I need you to see  
I'm screaming for you to please  
Hear me_

The next day I was called to Munkustrap's den. I worried that they had figured out what I had done, but before they could tell me Tugger burst in and forced me against the wall, he knew I had done something but what, I couldn't tell him.

"Rum Tum Tugger! What are you doing?" his father yelled. "Leave the young queen alone at once!"

"She's taken the kittens somewhere, I know it!" he yelled back, claws sliding into my skin. I made a slight moan of pain but there was no blood as one would have expected. He was thrown off me by a grey and black tom.

"The kittens are playing outside Tugger," Demeter said, all eyes turned to her. "Look for yourself." I watched him move slowly towards the door, keeping an eye on me as he went. He looked out quickly and double took as he spotted the little kittens playing by the junk piles, where I had told them to wait until sunset. His mouth hung open in confusion.

"But they disappeared, I saw it. They vanished, right into thin air." he muttered to himself. Tugger's family looked to each other, each declaring silently that he was going mad, I knew he wasn't but saying so would bring questions, ones I couldn't answer to them.

"Tugger? How 'bout you go home and have a lie down, yeah? You seem a little tired," Munkustrap suggested, he nodded absently and apologized to everyone, only to me halfheartedly, he still didn't trust me. He had full right not to, but I wished he would trust me, I was only looking out for him. He spent the rest of the day on his own, I saw him talking to two grey cats I hadn't met before, they slinked away as I got near. Tugger turned and nearly jumped out of his fur upon seeing me standing there, I hadn't meant to scare him.

"I'm sorry." I whispered and ran off.

Later that day I saw him again, he looked tired and slightly irritated. The sun set and the kittens ran off into the junk towards the forest, as I had told them to do. Tugger frowned at me again and turned his head towards someone who was calling him over. He waltzed towards his friends and his mate, Bombalurina.

"Hey Tugger, where've you been all day?" his friend Mistoffelees asked as he hopped onto the boot lid.

"Been a bit tired, trying to get a rest." He told him.

"Up all noight Tug? 'O was it this toime, eh?" Mungojerrie winked at him, Rumpleteazer hit her sibling over the head.

"No one, I was… busy," he said glancing over at me, I shuffled round pretending I wasn't listening.

"Tugger, Munkus told us about this morning." Asparagus informed him, Tugger turned to him quizzically. "I think you should lay off Shivani a bit. She's a bit distant yes but, as Munk rightfully says, it's just nerves. She'll come round." Tugger shook his head, I bowed my own thinking how they didn't understand how right Tugger was.

"Just watch your backs yeah? I think she's up to something," he warned them

"Oh honestly Tug!" Bomba said tickling his chin flirtatiously, I grimaced slightly not liking the flirting that the pair enjoyed. "A little kitten can't do anything too horrible. We're six very adult cats; we can take care of ourselves – even if you can't."

Tugger frowned at his mate playfully, "What's that mean?"

"I think you should just relax somewhere Tug, and never mind about us. We'll be fine," Misto said calmly. "Besides staying up late doesn't do your mane too much good!" he joked pointing to the scuffed-up gold fur, dirty with mud and grime. Tugger tried to reach over Admetus to grab Msito, but instead tumbled onto the ground with a thump, the cats on the car burst out laughing. I jumped down from my perch and went to check he was alright. They stopped laughing and Tugger looked up at me. He sat up never taking his eyes away from mine, he stood nodded to his friends and walked away.

I watched him walk off, before turning to the cats that had let him fall so easily, I stood on the bumper of the boot and chatted away to them, as if they were my long lost friends. I bid them to follow me and the obeyed. Once again I made sure Tugger couldn't see what I was doing.

_Hear me  
I'm cryin' out  
I'm ready now  
Turn my world upside down  
Find me  
I'm lost inside the crowd  
It's getting loud  
I need you to see  
I'm screaming for you to please  
Hear me_

An hour from sunrise I heard him yelling at someone, I rushed towards the voice and hid behind a bin listening to him. "What do you want? Huh?" he asked the air, "You've taken the kittens, you've taken my friends and my mate!" he yelled clearly thinking of Bomba, tears slowly running down his face. "Why are you doing this?" He slumped into an old stove, I crept out from my hiding place and moved towards him, I considered sitting with him, but realized that he could see me now.

"I'm sorry." I whispered thinking of nothing else I could say. He looked up at me anger burning in his chestnut eyes, I don't know why I did it but it sort of happened. Compassion possibly. I hypnotised him and led him to the tree, letting him join his friends and me.

_Can you hear me?  
Hear me_

Munkustrap found the tree just before daylight broke over the trees, seeing his family hanged in a tree must have nearly killed him. No wonder he sounded so angry with me. As the sun broke above the trees I jumped out the rope I died in around my neck, I vanished as the rope tightened. However no one saw my magic trick as they were too busy covering their eyes. I let them fall to the ground so they could join those who thought they had been lost, but they don't want to stay in the tree forever.

_Can you hear me?  
Hear me_

I had whispered my plan to Tugger as he swung in the branches; he would return to the tree every night and play with me. He wanted to be my brother, only he didn't want to give the goodbye I wanted to hear. He said I should wait for my real brother to find me. So I shall. And until then the tree will remain there and I will stay and swing in its branches with my new brother, his friends refused to return and left on their own lives. I let them; they wanted their own place for a goodbye. Like me.

_Hear me  
Hear me  
Hear me_

We wait in the tree now, me and Tugger. I am waiting for my brother, and he is waiting for his sister. We play in the forest on the sunny days and hide in the old oak on the rainy ones. We watch the kittens rolling around the junkyard, look on as they grow up and have their own kittens and then become old and withered. Tugger tells me he wished he had a family and I remind him that, until his real sister comes, I'm his family and he is mine. The years pass a lot quicker now; I have someone to share the memories with, my thoughts, feelings and the seasons. I'm no longer alone now, and even if my real brother never makes it across the dangerous roads to find me and tell me goodbye, I won't care as long as I have my other brother Tugger.

* * *

**I do appologise if anyone got confused about the repeated chorus at the end, but I wanted to fit a repeat in cause the chorus is so darn good!**

**I hope this has cleared up every little unsure bit of 'In the Hanging Tree' you were unsure about, and yeah it was completed in less than a day. I have too much free time now that I've broken my ankle. BTW I've broken my ankle.**

**Please review, thank you.**


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